


Virgil's First Encounter with Little Logan

by DannyisDone



Series: First Encounters (Sanders Sides Agere) [3]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Age Play Caregiver Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Age Play Little Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Age Play Little Logic | Logan Sanders, Age Play Little Patton, Age Regression, Age Regression/De-Aging, Angst with a Happy Ending, Familial Fluff, Fighting, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Fic, Non-Sexual Age Play, Swearing, it mostly focus's on agere but in the beginning they are actualy kiddos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:07:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27641851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DannyisDone/pseuds/DannyisDone
Summary: This story contains Age Regression and is NOT sexual.Logan, Patton, and Roman have always had each other's back, and have always taken care of each other. However, as things change, it can become harder to seek out comfort from the one's you love, especially when they've hurt you.Warnings: Contains swearing, a big fight between the sides, and lots of crying. If additional warnings need added please let me know!Edit: I've added a fluffy bonus chapter that focuses on Virgil taking care of the kiddos!Edit 2: A third chapter has been added, detailing where you can find the continuation of this story <3
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil & Creativity | Roman & Logic | Logan & Morality | Patton, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Creativity | Roman & Logic | Logan & Morality | Patton
Series: First Encounters (Sanders Sides Agere) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2017849
Comments: 17
Kudos: 153





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I know the title is Virgil and Logan, but this could really be titled "Virgil taking care of his family" because that's what it ended up being, but I promised a Logan fic, so that's what I am sticking too! If you need any additional tags or warnings added, please let me know! This is mostly fluff and focuses a lot on the age regression, but there is a bit of a fight and Roman says some really mean things, so please take care of yourself when it comes to reading! Also, if you see any mistakes please don't hesitate to let me know! 
> 
> I don't know what the next one will be (Probably another Dark side since they are my faves and I didn't write a single one in this!) but if you have suggestions please feel free to tell me!
> 
> Enjoy!

May, 1994 

A storm wailed outside of the mindscape, mirroring the weather of the outside world. Thomas had woken up with a start when a loud crack of thunder tore through his room. 

In the mindscape, Morality was running out of his room, clutching a stuffed frog close to his chest as tears pricked his eyes. He was mentally encouraging Thomas to do the same, urging him to go find Mom and Dad so that they could make it better. So while Thomas did just that, Morality mirrored his actions, running across the hallway towards Logic’s room. 

He knocked on it hard, before stepping back, willing the other side to wake up with him so that he didn’t have to feel so frightened alone. He was shocked when the door opened quickly, and noticed that Logic was also looking worse for wear. A relief washed over both of the six year old's faces when they both realized the other was just as scared. Logic took a step forward, his star blanket gripped tightly in his hands. 

“Let’s get Creativity.” Logic said. Morality nodded vigorously before they both started for the door. The Moral side timidly reached forward, grabbing Logic’s free hand, which he held back just as tightly. When another loud crack of thunder and a bright flash of lightning filled the air, the two boys let our terrified screams, before deciding to run towards their friend’s room instead of walking. 

They didn’t even have to knock when they arrived, Creativity was already making his way out. He held a wooden sword, daring whatever it was making his friends scream to approach him, but when he only saw the two other sides, their eyes wide with fear, he immediately put the toy down and hurried over to them. 

“What’s wrong?” He asked, before finally noticing the loud rain pounding on the room and a low roll of thunder coming from outside. He felt a slight shiver run through him, piecing together what was happening. 

“Scared!” Morality cried, letting go of Logic’s hand in favor of hugging Creativity tightly, squishing his toy between them. Creativity hugged him back just as fiercely. His eyes met Logic’s, who was beginning to mumble facts about storms under his breath. Logic was usually able to, well, logic his way out of fearing the things that Thomas and the others were afraid of, and though he tried to soothe himself with his small mantra of facts, it did little to help his racing heart. Creativity nodded towards his friend, before pulling back away from Morality. 

“It’s okay, I can make it better.” Creativity said, patting the other’s back before trying to figure out exactly how he was supposed to make it better. He thought a moment, the creative gears in his head turning. When Thomas was sad or scared, he would often go find Mom and Dad, and sometimes they would tell him stories to distract him. This seemed to trigger an idea for Creativity and he smiled wildly, though it was immediately stolen away as another loud BOOM filled the house. Logic took a step closer to the group, grabbing at Morality’s pajama shirt, continuing to recite his facts to himself. 

“Let’s go to the living room.” Creativity suggested, pulling away so he could look at his fellow sides. They both hesitated for a moment, before nodding. They trusted Creativity to know what he was doing. The group all carefully made their way towards the living room, an exact replica of Thomas’s, though all family pictures had been replaced with the three of them. As the three of them stood in the middle of the room, Creativity looked around a bit, before spotting the pile of blankets that always rested on the back of the couch. 

“We gotta build a fort!!” He said, turning back to the other two who looked at him skeptically. Morality opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Creativity climbing on the couch, throwing the blankets towards the others.

“We do! It’ll help block out the rain noises!” Creativity hurriedly responded. He wasn’t sure if that was true or not, but he knew that it would serve as a bit of a distraction for them, and he could show off his building skills he had been practicing ever since Thomas had been invited to a sleepover and someone had shown him how to build one. He jumped off the couch and started the process, shaking blankets in front of the other two to encourage them to help. 

Morality and Logic shared a look with one another, one that got across their unsureness of the plan. But when another flash of lightning filled the room with white light, they immediately got to work helping the project. If nothing else, it meant being with each other, and that's what they all wanted most anyways. 

When the fort was completed, Creativity quickly crawled in, sticking a thumbs up to the other two when he deemed the fort to be structurally sound. Morality followed in first, his eyes lighting up at how pretty the inside was. A few fairy lights hung from the inside that neither Logic or Morality was sure how Creativity had them, but he wasn’t in the mood to question it. He crawled over next to the creative side as Logic followed in after them, his blanket still firmly in his grip. (Creativity has asked to use it for the fort, but Logic had refused, holding it even tighter to get his point across.) He crawled in next to Morality and also admired the fairy lights above them. 

Creativity beamed, feeling so excited that his friends liked his handy work. “It’s a new power I learned!” He said, moving to sit on his knees and bounce on them. Logic and Morality looked back at them, their eyes wide with shock. 

“Show me show me show me!” Morality sang, moving to copy Creativity and sitting on his knees as well, bouncing the frog in his arms. Logic stayed seated, but eagerly looked towards the others, just as eager to see the new power. 

Creativity giggled a bit, before closing his eyes, his face scrunching up in concentration. Suddenly, a small music box and a stack of books appeared in the fort, popping up like magic. When he opened his eyes, and saw that they had appeared, he let out a small cheer, excited that it had worked.

“Look, I can summon anything I want, see?” He said, picking up one of the picture books and showing it off to the others. They both stared in amazement. Morality reached out for the book to see if it was real, and when he was able to firmly grasp it, he let out a gasp. 

“You have to teach me that!” He said, before handing the book over to Logic so he could look it over. He held the book in his hand. He recognized it as one of Thomas’s books that Mom and Dad would sometimes read to him before bedtime. 

“Very impressive,” He said, making Creativity flush and laugh, happy to have been able to impress the others. He reached over towards the music box and looked it over. 

“When Thomas is scared, Mom and Dad will sometimes read and sing to him, so I wanted something like that.” He explained, showing the music box to Morality, whose eyes shone very brightly as he looked it over. He ran his fingers over the wooden thing, before a twang of sadness filled him. 

“We don’t have a Mom and Dad.” Morality said, still running his fingers over the box, but not looking over at the other sides. It was sometimes a hard concept for them to grasp. They knew they were meant to help Thomas, that they were his sides. And then did help him! They hadn’t figured out a way to communicate with him, but they were still in charge of some of his functions, and they could feel the same things he felt. So while they understood their purpose, it was hard to also not just feel like a six year old too. Because sometimes they fell over and hurt themselves, or got into fights, or had bad dreams. 

A small sniffle filled the silence that had fallen over them after Morality’s comment, and the other two looked up to see he was crying again, hiding his face in his Froggy. Creativity scooted closer, wrapping his arm around Morality. 

“It’s okay, we can still sing songs.” He said, making Morality look up at him. 

“And read stories.” Logic added, holding up the book as a reminder. Morality looked over at him as well, before giving a bit of a small smile. 

“We don’t need a Mom and Dad! We have each other.” Creativity said with assurance before squeezing Morality in a tighter hug, making the boy gasp and giggle. 

“Forever?” Morality asked, looking between the two, who both nodded in sharp agreement. 

Creativity could feel himself growing excited, once more bouncing in his spot. “We can do this all the time! We can build forts and make snacks and stay up all night and-”

“We can’t stay up all night! We have to sleep, it’s important.” Logic interrupted, causing the other to groan and roll his eyes, dramatically falling backwards to lay down. Logic and Morality glanced at each other, before breaking up into small giggles. Morality decided to lay down as well, setting the music box down beside him. 

“We can do this sometimes though, I like being with you guys.” The Moral side explained, before trying to hide a yawn in his stuffie.

“It can be like a secret club, and we’re the only one’s allowed in.” Creativity said, rolling over to get a bit more comfortable. He too yawned, though it was loud and obnoxious, causing the others to erupt into giggles once more. 

“Who else could join anyways?” Logic asked, before laying down on the opposite side of morality, pulling his blanket over him and putting his thumb in his mouth. He knew he was a bit old to still suck his thumb, and Thomas had stopped years ago, but he was still quite attached, and it always brought him comfort. Neither of his friends had ever made fun of him for it either, so he felt safe enough to continue doing it. 

Creativity grew a bit quiet at the question, and for a second Logic thought that maybe he hadn’t heard his question, but then the other was suddenly sitting up a bit to look at him. His eyes were a bit sad, but he still wore a smile. 

“There’s others, I know there are.” He said, before peering down at his lap. It was something Creativity had shared with them before, but they were always skeptical. They had never seen another side before, nor did they sense them. But Creativity was firm in his belief that there was some, and they never wanted to hurt his feelings about it, so Logic knew not to question it further.

“Music?” Morality asked quietly, his eyes barely managing to stay open. Creativity looked down at him before the sadness washed away from his eyes and he nodded quickly, reaching for the music box and winding it up. 

A soft lullaby began playing for the box, and Creativity set it back down before snuggling up against Morality. The song was something Mom would sing to Thomas whenever he had nightmares. It sent a wave of calm over the little sides, the storm long forgotten. A power that they weren’t quite aware of protecting them for the night as they all managed to drift off to sleep, comforted by the idea that whenever things were too much, too sad, or too painful, they could always come together and do this. 

+++

January, 2010. 

Logan was sitting at his desk, a frustrated groan escaping him as he gripped at his hair. He was trying to mentally encourage Thomas to get up from his bed and start studying for his exam coming up. It frustrated Logan to no end that he couldn’t manage to motivate Thomas right now, especially since it seemed like no one was getting through to him recently. Of course, most of their functions were still working functionally, Thomas still had morals and logic, but he was refusing to text friends, or take care of his school work, he was even in a creative slump and had decided to not do this semester’s college musical (something Roman had taken very personally). It was maddening, and Logan could feel something in him feeling small. He sighed and released his hair from his tight grip, before suddenly being interrupted by a knock from his door. 

Logan took one last look at the work he was managing, but it felt fairly useless to keep trying if he wasn’t able to accomplish anything. Plus, if the knocking was for the reason he hoped it was, he wasn’t going to turn it down.

He stood up and strode over to his door. When he opened it, he found Patton standing before him, already dressed in comfortable pajamas and holding the music box in his hands. He wore a sheepish smile, but his eyes were warm and friendly. 

“Roman says it’s time for a club meeting, he’s currently making snacks.” Patton said, unsure if the other would want to join in. No one had ever turned down a club meeting before, but as they got older, they were always afraid that they might get too embarrassed or not want to hang out with each other anymore. But that clearly wasn’t the case this time. Logan offered a small nod and a smile. 

“I’ll be down in a few minutes,” He said. Patton nodded and smiled wider, before hurrying off down the stairs, presumably to help set up for the meeting. Logan sighed happily, shutting his door so he could prepare. 

He wasn’t sure why they had continued the silly ritual, but he had always been grateful. It was an easy way to slip into a headspace that wasn’t so filled with concern and worry for his host, especially during rough patches like this. It was a bit embarrassing, admittedly, that they still held onto these childish desires and actions, but it brought them a great deal of comfort and stability that Logan felt like he didn’t have much of in his life. He changed into his own pajamas, before heading towards his closet and pulling out a box from the back. 

In the box were a few of his club items. His blanket, of course, his stuffed Sherlock teddy bear, and his favorite children’s book that Roman had made for him. Logan knew the story forwards and backwards, having read it many times during club meetings, and sometimes on his own when he couldn't help the fuzzy feelings in his head that made him want to feel small. He picked everything up in his arms and walked towards the door. 

When he arrived downstairs he saw that a blanket fort was already in the living room. Roman’s fort building skills had only managed to get more and more impressive over the years, though it helped when he could throw in a bit of magical flare to add things like Christmas lights and sound proof blankets. Patton was standing outside the entrance, holding his frog tightly to his chest and smiling widely at Logan when he came down. 

“Ro added magic to the blankets to keep them warm!” Patton exclaimed excitedly, before pointing to the window that showcased the billowing snow. Logan hadn’t even realized how much the snow had begun piling up, having been so focused on his work. He moved to stand a bit closer to Patton. Patton reached his hand over to Logan, who took it quietly, feeling his face warm up a bit, but was happy to be close to the other. 

Roman was soon running in, dressed in pajamas and fuzzy socks, muffling his heavy foot falls as he came into the living room with a tray of warm cookies and three sippy cups. Logan and Patton peered at the tray, their faces lighting up.

“Ooh cookies!” Patton said, making Roman beam a bit. 

“They’re sugar cookies, made ‘em myself!” Roman boasted, before signaling for them to move into the fort. Patton bent down and crawled in first, and let everyone know how pretty and cozy it was in there. Logan followed in next, and he had to agree. 

The inside was much bigger than it logically ought to have been compared to looking at it from the outside. Christmas lights were strung across the blankets, twinkling. There was always a wide assortment of pillows and blankets and a few stuffed animals scattered about across the floor. 

“I added the stuffies.” Patton commented, taking his place in the middle of the fort, before lifting up his frog’s hand to wave at Logan. Logan waved back, suppressing a laugh, before crawling his way to the right left right of Patton, his usual spot. As he sat, adjusting so that his blanket and bear was in his lap and the book sat beside him, Roman came in, walking on his knees as he tried to get the snacks into the fort. 

“Help, please?” He asked. Patton nodded and reached forward, taking the tray from Roman and setting it on the ground as he crawled the rest of the way in, taking his seat next to Patton’s left. 

The three sat in silence a moment, relishing in the warmth of the blankets and the presence of one another, before it was broken up by giggles. All three of them unable to hold in their laughter as they took each other in. 

They knew it was silly. They knew that as college aged people, they shouldn’t want to drink from sippy cups or cuddle up with toys and read each other books, but it was something they needed to do. It was comforting to have each other, to be able to slip down and for a moment, forget about their worries and their struggles. It was safe in the confines of the fort walls. So they were able to let go and be the small silly selves that always wanted to come out when things were too much to handle. 

Patton was the first to reach for the tray of cookies, picking on up along with his baby blue sippy cup. Roman had summoned them years ago, when during one particularly club meeting, the three had confessed to wanting the comforts of them. He took a bite of the cookie, his eyes lighting up once more. 

“S’good, Roman!” Patton complimented in a child like voice, making the creative side blush and laugh, kicking his feet lightly. 

“T’anks!” He said, before reaching forward and grabbing his own cup and cookie. Logan quickly followed suit. They all sat in silence once more, enjoying their treats in quiet merriment. Patton leaned on Roman’s shoulder at one point, causing a bit of laughter, but it wasn’t until the drinks were gone did Patton decide to speak up again. 

“You think Thomas is okay?” He asked, his normal way of talking returning. It was a bit of a whisper, but they had all been thinking about it anyways. Thomas’s slump was getting worse, and they were all feeling the effects of it. It’s probably what had compelled them all to need the break anyways. Roman shifted a bit. 

“I think he just needs some time, I’m sure we can get him through this.” He said, no longer sounding young either but wrapping an arm around Patton. Talking about Thomas tended to pull them away from the fuzzy feelings of their club meetings, but it always came up. Thomas was important to them, and it didn’t help that he was obviously hurting and they weren’t able to help. They could do their jobs, and mentally encourage Thomas towards actions they knew he wanted to take, but they couldn’t force him to do anything, especially when they still hadn’t found an effective way to communicate with him (if there was even a way at all). 

“We’ve been through the worst slumps before.” Logan reasoned, recalling nights in high school where things could get really bad for their host. Patton nodded his agreement, before a small smile played at his face. 

“But now we have amazing cookies to help us through it!” Patton teased, before reaching forward for another cookie and biting down on it, wordlessly communicating to the others that they didn’t have to talk about it anymore, and give back into the good feelings of their club meetings. They didn’t have the words to explain it. They had all agreed that whenever they could feel it coming on, it was like a fuzziness in their mind that made them feel soft and happy. And it was so easy to relish in when the others were around. Logan let a smile return to his face, as did Roman. 

“Story?” Came Roman’s voice, peering at Logan with hopeful eyes. Logan always read them stories at club meetings. The logical side held up the book he had brought, finally being able to settle back down as well. 

They all huddled together, Patton laying his head on Logan’s shoulder to get a better look at the picture book, while Roman was more content to lay his head in Patton’s lap, preferring to listen to the calming lull of Logan’s voice. Logan opened the book and began reading the children’s tale to the others, everyone burying themselves deep into the calm and the warmth that came from both the fort and each other’s presence. 

+++

After ‘Accepting Anxiety’ 

Logan was lying next to Patton, sucking his thumb quietly in the safety of the fort built in Roman’s room, but he couldn’t deny the unsettling presence that was haunting what was meant to be their refuge. The three of them had all agreed that after the stressful, but incredibly productive day they had had in Anxi- Virgil’s room, that they should all get together for a club meeting. They couldn’t have it in the living room, of course, since now that Virgil lived with them in the mind palace, his room door having appeared alongside their own after Thomas had shown them the way, he could potentially walk in on their ritual. However, that was exactly why the awkward air hung around them, even as they all quietly laid, listening to the music box. 

Patton sat up, resting his head on his knees, causing the two others to look at him. He hugged himself tightly. 

“We shouldn’t leave Virgil out, he’s part of our family now...” Patton said, barely above a whisper. He still sounded regressed, though it was clear that he was fighting to stay in headspace. He wanted to stay small and stay with them, but his mind drifted off to Virgil and the day they had had. He had shared his name with them! He was finally feeling comfortable around them and feeling like he belonged. It wasn’t fair to leave him out, even if he didn’t know he was being left out of something. 

Roman sat up now, slightly flustered. They had already gone over this a few times, but it seems that Patton was insistent on continuing to have the conversation. “This is our thing, we don’t have to include him in everything we do.” He huffed, crossing his arms slightly. He was still firmly regressed, probably helped by the fact that he was getting frustrated. He didn’t want Virgil to be a part of this. This was something they had built together. This was for them!

Logan sat up as well, but wasn’t eager to join in on the conversation. Truthfully, he didn’t know how he felt about it. He was glad that Virgil had felt comfortable with them to share his name, finally feeling accepted as an important part of Thomas, a lesson they had all needed to learn that day. But just because he was here now, didn’t mean he was all that comfortable sharing this side of him with Virgil. He felt safe with the others, he knew he could trust them. But he could trust Virgil too, right? They were all friends now. It made his head hurt, thinking about it, and it threatened to age him up. He sucked harder on this thumb and started petting his bear.

However, Patton and Roman didn’t seem to pick up on his wariness, and continued to have their disagreement. 

“It feels wrong to leave him out....” Patton trailed, before sighing and looking down at his lap. He was utterly exhausted thinking about it all. He wanted Virgil to feel like he was a part of their family, and to Patton, this was just as important to his family dynamic with them as movie nights and shared dinners were. He petted his frog softly, knowing Roman was going to disagree. He didn’t know how to make it feel okay. 

Roman sighed as well, before looking over at Logan. Logan offered him understanding eyes, but that was about as much comfort as he could give. 

Roman was willing to let Virgil into their lives, into their family. But he didn’t view their club meetings the same way as Patton did. This was something for the three of them. This was something they had built together, and he wanted it to stay that way. He didn’t want things to change. Even if he knew for a fact that Virgil would not be weirded out by it, it still would feel wrong. 

They all sat in silence for a few minutes, varying degrees of headspace amongst them. They had never fought like this during a club meeting. They rarely did anything but giggle and sleep. It made the tension in the air thick, and not one of them knew how to make it go away. At some point the music had stopped playing from the box, and it made the silence harder to sit through. Eventually, Logan broke the silence. 

“Ro?” He whispered around his thumb quietly, letting the other two know that at least he was still regressed. Roman looked at him, his green eyes glistening with unfallen tears. Logan scooted closer to Patton, laying his head on his shoulder, hoping he could guide them both back down for the night, even if it was just through showing them that it was okay to be little still. 

“Will you sing to us?” Logan asked, watching the other carefully. He could feel Patton stiffen a bit under him, holding his breath slightly. Logan wasn’t sure what he was waiting for, perhaps to see if the other would still indulge them even though they had a disagreement. But Roman gave a soft smile that made everyone relax immensely, and the warmth began to return to the fort. 

“It would be an honor.” Roman said, before sitting up straighter. Patton let himself giggle, before moving to lay down, Logan right behind him. Patton curled up tightly next to Roman, sighing contently when the creative side began running his hands through his hair. Logan settled a bit further away from Patton, but with his free hand, reached out and held onto the back of his pajama shirt lightly, letting the other know that he was there. 

Roman began singing Disney songs once he knew the others were settled, his voice soft and pleasant. The two watched him with peaceful eyes, before they began to close as sleep began to over power their desire to listen to Roman’s melodies. When Roman was sure they were settled, he reached over for the music box, winding it up and letting it play, before laying back down next to Patton, letting the comfort of being near his friends rock him back to sleep. 

From outside Roman’s door, Virgil could hear the tune from where he stood, resting his head against the wooden frame, trying to figure out why he had been left out. 

+++

After ‘Putting Others First - Selfishness v. Selflessness Redux’ 

When Patton rose up into the kitchen to check on Roman, he wasn’t really sure what he was supposed to expect. He knew Roman was angry and hurting, knew that they would need to have a talk about what happened. He also knew he needed to find Logan and make sure he was okay. He hurried towards the stairs, eager to find his friends, only to hear both of them in the living room. Well, no, he could hear Roman in the living, practically screaming. 

“Why does everything have to keep changing? Everything was fine, we knew what we were doing!” 

Patton hurried into the living room. Roman had his back towards Patton, his hands gripping his hair. Logan was standing in front of him, doing his best to try and calm the other day. 

“We are evolving. Things change, Janus was only trying to-”

“So you’re taking his side too? Him kicking you out of the video wasn’t proof enough that he doesn’t care?” Roman demanded, kicking Logan down when he was hurt. Logan attempted to roll his eyes, trying not to let Roman’s words affect him, before he finally noticed Patton standing behind them. Roman turned around to see what he was staring at, but only narrowed his eyes when he saw the other. 

“And if it isn’t the snake handler himself.” Roman practically growled, but his eyes were wet with unfallen tears. 

Patton shook his head quickly, moving to step a bit closer to Roman. “Kiddo, no one’s taking anyone’s side. I’m not against you-” He said, before Roman held his hand up to stop him. 

“Can it, I don’t want to hear it. I am supposed to make things better for Thomas, for everyone!” He yelled, gesturing around himself wildly. “But the moment I make a mistake--”

“You didn’t make a mistake.” Logan cut in, but it fell on deaf ears. Roman would not be consoled. He whipped back around to Logan, his eyes dark. 

“How would you know? You’ve not even been around.” Roman took a step forward towards Logan. “You keep getting put on the backburner because this is about Thomas’s feelings and You. Can’t. Feel.” It hurt. Roman wanted it to hurt. He wanted everyone to feel as broken as he felt. He watched Logan’s eyes grow wide, almost expecting a fight, wanting a fight, but the shocked look went away almost as soon as it came, replaced with nothing but apathy. It made Roman’s blood boil even more. 

“Roman Sanders, that’s enough out of you!” Patton yelled, and it felt wrong to yell. It felt wrong to fight like this, but all they were doing was actively hurting each other, and for what? Roman whipped around again. 

“Tag teaming me again so soon, Patton?” He asked, “Well could you at least buy me dinner this time before you fuck me?”

“Enough!” Virgil’s dark voice entered through the room, chilling the air around them. Everyone turned around to see the anxious side, looking pretty worn out. His eyes looked over everyone, narrowed and with a warning that dared them to try and keep fighting. Patton immediately looked ashamed, looking away from the mismatched eyes. Roman glared back at him, but clearly didn’t have much fight in him left, feeling the anger begin to dissipate as he was forced into silence. Logan stood straighter, adjusting his tie. 

Once Virgil sensed that they were gonna be quiet for a second, he finally spoke up. “How about instead of everyone fighting, we all just leave each other the fuck alone. Everyone’s pissed at everyone. We’re not going to resolve anything tonight.” His voice was stern and angry, but it seemed to get the point across. Plus it let the others know that he was frustrated too. He had been completely left out of the conversation, though probably for the better, because if he had had to see Deceit’s snake face he might have lost it. 

Roman was the first to leave, “I don’t need this.” He snarled, before stomping out of the room. It almost broke Patton. He wanted to follow after Roman, to tell him that everything was going to be okay. But perhaps for the first time in a long time, he wanted to be alone too. He hugged himself tightly. 

“If you need me…” He started to say to Logan and Virgil, looking them over. But he didn’t even have it in him to try and feign his usually easy coming ability to help. He sighed. “Please don’t…” It came out a whisper, before he began to walk off towards his room, leaving the last two remaining sides. 

Logan and Virgil shared a look, almost reading each other's minds. They had been cast to the side, and for what? Plus Logan couldn’t stop Roman’s words from piercing through his chest. It hurt. It hurt so much, and it was making him feel small. 

Virgil broke the tension, sighing. “We’ll get through this, right L?” He asked, his eyeshadow dark and his hands twisted into his hoodie, holding on for dear life. Logan wanted to explain that of course, that they always managed to work through these kinds of things. But he didn’t know if he believed that just then. 

“I don’t know.” Was the only response he could give, and what a miserable answer that was. He was Logic. He was supposed to know. He was supposed to have answers. But he didn’t feel sure about anything. He wasn’t supposed to feel anything at all. 

Logan started to head back towards his room, but was stopped by Virgil, stepping in front of him, though he didn’t meet the other’s eyes. 

“If you need anything, well, you know where my door is at.” Virgil offered. It was a gesture that he would have offered any of his fellow sides, but the others clearly wanted to be alone. Virgil could almost sense the apprehension in Logan though, could tell he was already feeling put out by his forced exclusion from what had happened. But Logan shook his head. 

“You heard Roman, I can’t feel. I don’t need anything.” He then pushed passed Virgil and started up the stairs, his resolve escaping with every step, until he was practically running up towards his room to try and move away from the tears that threatened to form in his eyes and reveal to all that Logan did care. He did feel. And he absolutely did not not want to be alone right now. 

When Logan realized he was regressing, he didn’t know what to do. Because he rarely ever regressed without the other two, and it meant that all he wanted was their company, and clearly that wasn’t going to happen. He closed the door behind him, leaning against it and grabbing at his hair, trying to fight it. He didn’t want to be small and alone. That was a terrifying concept. He walked over to his bed and laid down in it, not even bothering with taking his clothes off, in fear that it would only make him feel younger. He closed his eyes, and quietly began to mutter facts about philosophers under his breath, fighting off the fear that came with being all alone. 

When Logan woke up (When had he fallen asleep?) he looked around, trying to blink the sleep out of his eyes. He peered over at his alarm clock, which indicated that it was around 11 p.m. He sat up, and two things became obvious to him quickly. 

1\. He was still small  
2\. He was still feeling incredibly lonely. 

Logan sighed and hugged himself, no longer having the fight in him to try and age back up. He wondered if the others were feeling the same way. They almost always regressed together, and typically after large incidents such as the day’s events (Though this had been the largest fight he had ever had with his fellow sides). He missed his friends. He wanted to be with them. Wanted to listen to the music box or read stories or literally anything that would let him know that they still cared about each other. He stood up from the bed, his clothes feeling much too tight and uncomfortable. 

He changed into a pair of comfortable pajamas, before moving over to the closet, digging out his regression box from the back. He hadn’t been in the box for a while, they hadn’t had a club meeting in a while, actually. And before today it wouldn’t have really bothered Logan all that much to notice, because he knew that it would come in due time, just as it always did. 

Now he wasn’t sure. 

He pulled out his blanket and his bear, holding them close. It helped him feel a bit calmer with the comforts, rubbing his face against the soft blanket, before reaching in and pulling out the children’s picture book. He hadn’t read it in such a long time, but he still knew the story front to back. He thumbed at the pages a bit, before standing up, carrying his things with him. 

He wasn’t really sure what he was doing until he was doing it, finding himself standing in front of Patton’s room. He suddenly felt nervous. He had never been the one to initiate a meeting before, wasn’t even sure if it was something he was allowed to do anymore. He was about to knock, when a familiar sound began playing behind the wood, accompanied by quiet cries. 

The music box. 

Patton must have begun playing it, which must meant that he was feeling small as well. But he hadn’t come and got anyone. He hadn’t reached out to Roman or Logan, hadn’t asked to have a club meeting. Logan began to feel ashamed. It didn’t feel right to want to seek out his companionship when it was clear Patton wanted to deal with this alone. He took a step away from the door, only hesitating a bit longer to listen to the calming chimes of the music box, before he hurriedly walked away, heading towards Roman’s door to see if something similar was occurring. 

When he made it to the door, his suspicions seemed to prove to be true. He pressed ear against the wood gently, and could hear Roman singing softly to himself. Logan frowned deeply. Neither of them wanted to seek each other out, even though they were clearly not handling this well. It made Logan feel smaller. He didn’t know how to help his friends, didn’t know if there was a way to help them. And worst of all, he was feeling so selfish. He had come all this way out here to try and seek their company, even though it wasn’t what they wanted. 

He pulled away from the door and placed his thumb in his mouth, trying to prevent the facts that wanted to fall from his lips. He didn’t want to be alone. He respected that others did, but it was so hard. They were supposed to help each other through everything. 

When Logan turned around, he jumped, biting hard on his thumb to prevent the scream that almost came out of him. Virgil was standing behind him. Logan’s heart raced, knowing he needed to age up. Knowing Virgil wasn’t supposed to see him like this. 

Virgil didn’t react though. Wasn’t visibility disgusted or seemingly disturbed. He looked at Logan with kind eyes that were soft and endearing, and Logan could feel a lump forming in his throat. 

“Trouble sleeping?” Virgil asked, and though it wasn’t exactly the case, Logan found himself nodding. Virgil nodded back, before gesturing for Logan to follow him. 

Logan hesitated, still hyper aware that Virgil wasn’t supposed to see him like this. But the prospect of not being left alone was much too enticing for his young brain, and he found himself following Virgil towards the Logan’s bedroom. 

Virgil walked into the room, looking around it a bit, before looking back at Logan who was standing in the doorway, clearly still very hesitant, even though this was his own bedroom. Virgil offered him a small smile. 

“Is that your book?” Virgil asked, pointing at the book still tightly gripped to his chest along with his Sherlock bear. Logan gave a small nod, walking a bit further into the room. Virgil could sense his hesitance, and tried to calm him down. 

“Would you like me to read it to you?” He asked, watching Logan for an unfavorable reaction. However, to Virgil’s surprise, Logan’s face seemed to wash over with relief as he nodded again, hurrying over to the bed and climbing in. Virgil chuckled at the reaction and climbed into bed with the regressor, taking the book from him gently. 

“You can lay on me if you want, whatever you need to do to get comfortable.” Virgil said, leaning against the backboard of the bed. Logan didn’t need to be told twice. He laid his head against Virgil’s shoulder to look at the pictures, his blanket now wrapped around his shoulders and thumb tucked away in his cheek. 

As Virgil began to read, Logan tried to focus on the story. Tried to force his mind far away from the thoughts that had been threatening to consume him. That he wasn’t wanted. That he couldn’t feel anything. That his friends only tolerated him. He tried, but he couldn’t. And for the first time, as Virgil’s soothing voice settled into Logan and reminding him how he ended up in this situation, Logan let himself cry. 

He was a silent cried. He didn’t wail or whimper. He didn’t throw fits or scream until he was hoarse. He watched as the pictures became all blurry and he could no longer read along with the words. His tears fell down his cheeks, and he moved to wipe them away, but he didn’t want to stop crying. He didn’t want to deny that he was sad, that he was hurting, that he didn’t want to be alone. He didn’t notice when Virgil stopped reading, but did notice when his arms were wrapping around him in a hug. 

“It’s okay, Lo, you can cry, it’s okay.” Virgil whispered, and that’s exactly what Logan did. He wept into Virgil, letting the other rock and sooth him gently. He gripped onto Virgil’s hoodie tightly and continued to let himself cry. Because he was allowed to cry. He was allowed to feel sad. And he didn’t have to be alone if he didn’t want to be. 

He started to drift back to sleep, letting Virgil’s humming settle him deeply, and the coldness he had been feeling began to melt away. But he was startled by the sound of quiet music coming from the hallway. The two sides looked up, only then realizing that neither of them had shut the door, and they were met with a teary-eyed Patton holding his music box in one hand, and his Froggy in the other. 

If Patton was worried about Virgil seeing him like this, he didn’t show it. He just stepped a further into the room. “Can I please lay with you?” He whispered quietly, just barely loud enough to be heard over his music. Virgil peered down at Logan, waiting to see if he was okay with it. Logan, who was still crying but it was beginning to taper off, gave a slight nod. 

“Come on over, kid.” Virgil said, scooting over just a bit to make room for Patton on the other side of him. Patton walked over, placing the music box on the bedside table, before climbing in next to Virgil, hiding his face in the other’s side. 

“I’m sorry.” Patton cried, unsure who he was really talking to. Virgil took it in stride, letting go of his hug with Logan in favor of wrapping one arm around each side, running his hands through their hair. 

“Let’s try and not think about earlier, okay? We can do that in the morning.” Virgil said, and Patton nodded his response, content to just allow himself to be held by the other. He peered at Logan and saw that he was crying, but didn’t say anything. Instead he reached over, offering his hand to Logan across Virgil. Logan looked at it a moment, before gently taking it. 

Once more they all began to drift off to sleep, only again to be once more interrupted by someone in the hallway, knocking on the door gently. 

“Lo? Can we-” But Roman cut himself off when he saw what was going on. He froze a bit, his eyes first landing on Virgil and becoming extremely aware of his Beauty and the Beast onesie and lion stuffie tucked under his arm. He squirmed slightly, before looking over at his friends, Patton’s lips wobbling and Logan’s eyes red from crying. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean-” But Roman was cut off by Virgil, who continued to only look at him kindly. 

“Wanna join the club?” He asked, motioning his head towards the other side of Logan where there was just enough room for one more body. Roman looked at it longingly, before giving in, no longer wanting to be alone. He walked over to the bed and climbed in beside Logan quickly to tuck in next to him.

“I’m sorry-” Roman started, but was once again cut off by Virgil. 

“This is a no-talking-about-earlier zone, Little Prince. We can talk about it tomorrow.” He said with a slight chuckle, leaning over and ruffling the other’s hair. He gave a bit of a huff, but seemed relieved that he wouldn’t have to try and apologize for the terrible things he had said in anger. Of course he would have to, and he wanted to very badly. But he was just as content to be by Logan still, even if they were all hurting. 

The room felt much warmer now, much safer. The lullaby continued to play in the background, and they all found they didn’t mind the extra presence in the room. They all started to drift off to sleep. Knowing that tomorrow would be hard. That they might fight, but at the end of the day, they were still family. 

And they would always come back to each other, no matter what.


	2. Bonus Chapter!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Virgil has been told about his friend's "Club Meetings" he's interested in watching over them, all he has to do is wait for them all to regress. 
> 
> +++
> 
> Warnings: Spoilers for the most recent Asides Episode, and just lotsa cuteness <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a cute little bonus chapter for this story! It's just a bit of cute shenanigans between Virgil and the littles. I'm not super happy with how it turned out, truthfully, but that's just because I prefer to write conflict and am not super confident in my "pure fluff" skills. Hopefully some people end up enjoying it though!! 
> 
> I have some real angst stuff coming up next so enjoy it while it lasts~~ 
> 
> As always, if there are any glaring spelling or grammatical errors please don't hesitate to point them out! I ended up writing some of this on my phone, so it's possible autocorrect cursed me.

Explaining to Virgil what age regression was hadn’t even been the most awkward conversation that followed the weeks after the night they had all spent together. After apologizing to one another, and promising to start working on more effective communication, they had all agreed to sit down and let Virgil in on their secret, since he was practically aware of it anyways. He took it in great stride, promising them that he didn’t judge them and that he’d rather suspected something like that was going on years ago when he would occasionally find sippy cups in the cabinets or a stray stuffie in the living room, but he didn’t have the confidence to ask about it. That conversation went well and left all three of the regressors feeling a whole lot better about Virgil knowing. 

The real awkward conversation came the following day. 

“So, do you have anyone who, like, watches you guys?” Virgil asked from his place in the living room. 

They were all sitting together on the couch, somewhat watching what was on the television. Logan was more interested in the comic book he was reading while Roman was ranting to whoever would listen about the horrible costuming, explaining that it didn’t seem very period accurate. Patton was listening, of course, but Virgil’s mind had seemed to drift somewhere else, and it left the other three feeling a tad embarrassed, blushing in their spots. 

“I mean, we watch each other.” Patton explained, not needing clarification about what Virgil was talking about, none of them did. He glanced between Logan and Roman, trying to get a gauge on how they felt about the sudden question. Logan seemed to be trying to hide his embarrassment in his comic, barely looking up from it though it wasn’t hard to tell he was now much more invested in the conversation. Roman seemed the most unsure of what Virgil’s intentions were, narrowing his eyes just a bit. 

“Right, sure, but you guys say you basically become kids, right? You can’t exactly watch yourselves if you’re all, what, 8?” He asked, worrying the sleeves of his jacket with his fingers, wondering if maybe he was out of line to be talking about this, but no one had yelled at him or told him to change the conversation, and they hadn’t exactly left him the opportunity to ask questions once they had explained what their regression was. 

“More like 5, though it really does depend on the circumstances of why we are regressing.” Logan explained, finally setting the comic now, since it seemed that this conversation wasn’t going to be ending anytime soon. He stated his sentence matter of factly, since the statement was overall true, but that didn’t stop the reddening of Roman’s cheeks, who looked towards Virgil to see if he would judge their age range. He didn’t, of course, he just nodded. 

“And 5 year olds can’t really look after themselves, can they?” Virgil asked, now aiming for just a bit of teasing, but in a friendly way, hoping to try and make light of the situation so maybe it would be easier for him to ask what he wanted to.

“Why, are you offering to watch us, Scary Poppins?” Roman asked, quick to pick up on Virgil’s playfulness and latched onto it. He too found it much easier to talk about a serious conversation if he was able to make light of it, but when he looked back at Virgil, he could tell that oh, he had managed to hit the nail on the head with that, this wasn’t playful jabbing. 

Virgil wanted to watch them. 

The whole room went silent, everyone in varying degrees of embarrassment. Virgil looked like he might explode, now beginning to wonder if it was weird that he wanted to watch them, or if they would be way too uncomfortable, or if that that night had just been a one time fluke and that they would really rather keep this between themselves. Virgil didn’t really need to insert himself in or anything, but this was his family and it had been nice being able to take care of them for once. They were constantly helping him with his anxiety and making him feel better about things, he just wanted to do the same. But maybe that was too much for them?

Roman was perhaps only a fraction better off than Virgil, but his face was very red and he was looking down at his shirt, flattening it down just so he had something to do with his nervous hands. He had been the largest voice against involving Virgil in their club meetings, but even he had admitted that Virgil being there the other night had been nice. He was like a steady reminder that they didn’t have to try and solve everything in one night, that they could stay small and not have to worry about the big thoughts that were threatening to consume them. Plus, though Roman had yet to admit this to the others, Virgil having ruffled his hair and calling him Little Prince had brought butterflies to his stomach, making him feel so much smaller. 

Logan and Patton were a little better off, sharing glances with one another. They had never talked about having someone to take care of them before when regressed, at least not since they were literal children, wondering why they didn’t have a mom or dad like Thomas. Logan was rather fond of the idea, remembering how safe he had felt when Virgil was hugging him, and how he had kind of been craving that attention again ever since. Logan was not overall a needy little or anything, but he had also never had such an emotional reaction while little before, so it had been a positive thing that Virgil had been there to help him through it. Patton was feeling a bit of the same way, though he was more excited by the idea that Virgil wanted to be a part of this than anything. 

It was Logan who finally broke the silence, as he often did, since he was worried that if the tension they had built remained a moment longer, they all might suffocate in it (metaphorically, of course). 

“I wouldn’t mind it.” He said quietly. He didn’t want to speak for everyone, of course. But with Logan’s admission, it seemed to relax the others, and they too could share their feelings on the matter.

“Me either, it could be a lot of fun!” Patton exclaimed, looking towards Roman. If anyone was going to object, it would be him. But Roman was fiddling with his shirt still, unable to make eye contact with anyone. It took another minute that everyone waited with bated breath to see how he would respond. Virgil could feel the anxious waves coming off of Roman, and didn’t want to pressure him into doing something he didn’t want to do. He was opening his mouth to say just as much when the creative side finally looked over at him. 

“Okay.” Was all he could manage to say before he hurriedly had to look away again. Virgil wore a small smile at that. He could tell that it had been hard for Roman to agree, so if this was actually going to happen, all he could hope to do was try his best and let the others feel safe and cared for. Virgil moved a bit closer to Roman and ruffled his hair, earning him a small huff of protest, but the side didn’t pull away. Virgil could just smirk, before it turned a bit more sincere. 

“Alright then,” He started, looking around at the others. “When is the next club meeting?”

+++

Scheduling a Club Meeting wasn’t exactly something that they could really do, of course. It wasn’t something they ever planned for, it just sort of happened. Their regressions were triggered by high emotions, good and bad. They agreed they would come to each other when they could feel it’s pull, though the three were a little worried, considering the last time they had all regressed it had been caused by a huge fight between them. They didn’t necessarily want to burden Virgil if they did end up regressing because of something bad happening. 

And then, something amazing happened. 

Virgil and Roman sank down into the kitchen together, neither of them being able to contain their smiles or hide their flushing faces. They gave each other one quick look before nodding. 

“Logan!” Roman yelled. 

“Patton!” Virgil matched, summoning both the sides, who were also already grinning. 

“Oh my gosh, we saw everything!” Patton exclaimed, immediately grabbing Virgil’s hands, admiring the purple eyeshadow that had returned to his face at the prospect of sharing what all had happened. 

“It was rather impressive, you really outdid yourselves.” Logan said, his excitement obviously more subdued, but the smile on his face and the sparkling in his eyes let them know that he was feeling just as excited as they were. Patton couldn’t contain his squealing and was suddenly pulling Virgil towards the living room. 

“You have to tell us everything all over again!” He cheered, despite the fact he had already admitted to seeing everything that happened. But Virgil didn’t mind. Roman and Logan were following him in, Roman still bouncing slightly, and even Logan was shaking his hands a bit, needing to get the emotions out somehow. Virgil sat in the middle of the couch, and was swarmed immediately by Patton who sat to the left of him, pressed as close as he could without making the anxious side uncomfortable, though Virgil knew this was one instance where he wouldn’t have minded the closeness. Roman sat down next, a bit more stiffly, but only because he didn’t think he would sit long anyways, needing to get up and move around. So Logan took Roman’s place next to Virgil, willing to listen to the whole thing over as well. 

By the time Virgil had started explaining the sudden urge he had to push Thomas into the handsome stranger known as Nico, he took a look at the three around him. They were all staring at him with wide smiles, Roman finally having decided to sit down on the coffee table in front of the couch, listening to him intently, but all of them had a very sleepy look to them, as if the excitement of the day had progressively begun to wear them out. Virgil felt the exact opposite, he felt he might be able to run a marathon (Though not to win it, can never be too optimistic.). Then, the thought occurred to him. 

“Are you all regressed?” He asked, looking around. They all seemed to blink a bit (It was adorable, how in sync they all seemed to be), considering the question. 

“Maybe?” Patton squeaked, a blush forming on his face, before it was immediately overshadowed by the yawn he had. He rubbed his eyes. 

“Are you done telling the story?” Logan asked, just a bit disappointed. He didn’t contradict Patton’s maybe because he knew it was true as well. He yawned as well, laying his head against Virgil’s shoulder, though he fought to keep his eyes open. Virgil just chuckled as a response, offering a hand to run through Logan’s hair as an apology. 

Roman was the most hesitant to admit it, suddenly very interested in playing with his hands, wringing them together. He was feeling tired too, mostly because the adrenaline from all the excitement was wearing off, as he assumed was the same happening to his fellow sides. He eventually did offer a small nod though. 

With all the confirmation he needed, Virgil just smiled gently. It was adorable, absolutely so sweet, that they had gotten themselves so worked up in their elation that they had ended up regressing and had hardly realized it. He didn’t think they would be all that interested in doing their normal club stuff, considering they absolutely needed to take a nap. It was just a tad bit disappointing that he wouldn’t be able to take care of his friends like he wanted, but he supposed getting them to sleep after such an exhilarating day was a good start. 

“I think you all need to lay down.” Virgil suggested, going to stand up, but then two sets of arms were suddenly wrapping around his own, holding him down. 

“Nooooo, keep tellin’ the story, Vee!” Patton whined. 

“We’ll stay ‘wake, promise.” Logan mumbled, already contradicting himself as his eyes began to flutter close. 

“We don’ need a nap!” Came Roman’s exasperated tone, rolling his eyes a bit. Virgil could not contain his chuckles as he made to stand again, the arms finally letting him go, though Patton continued to whine about it. 

“That’s fine by me.” He said with a shrug, all eyes looking towards him as he started walking towards the stairs that led to the bedrooms. “If you guys want to stay down here and not nap, I won’t stop you. But I’m gonna go lay down.” He hid his smirk away, hoping that what he was gonna say next would get them to follow him. 

“Too bad too, I was really looking forward to laying with you all and finishing the story, but if you guys really aren’t interested...” Virgil trailed off, and couldn’t help the grin he felt tugging on his face when he heard three small gasps and then sets of footsteps hurrying behind him. He looked back when he felt something grab his hoodie, and he could see Patton holding onto him, with the other two right behind, all of them blushing and looking away. 

“Oh? Changed your minds? Thought you all didn’t need a nap?” He teased, ruffling Patton’s hair, which made the little smile brightly. 

“Story!” Patton said, to which Logan and Roman nodded heavily. Virgil’s heart was melting, these little brats were so freaking precious. He motioned for them to follow him, and continued up the stairs. He knew better than to offer them stay in his room, considering the three never managed to handle it well. So they would have to settle somewhere else. He turned back to the others, who all looked like lost puppies following the first person they could find. 

“Maybe we should all stay in Logan’s room again?” He suggested. They all shared a look with each other, wordlessly communicating something that Virgil could not read. But then they were all nodding. 

“Okay, you guys have to stop being in sync, it’s freaking me out.” Virgil teased, earning him soft giggles that he had never heard from the others. Okay well, he’d heard Patton giggle before, but these were far from his usual giddiness. This held a playfulness that Virgil had not witnessed in any of his friends before. It really was sweet, and almost a bit sad. He wished he could have known this side of them sooner. 

“Okay, everyone go put some comfier clothes on, and grab whatever little things you need.” The anxious side said, waving them off as if they needed herded towards their rooms. Roman was the first to listen, hurrying off to his room. Patton was next to leave, though he seemed a bit more hesitant, as if he was unsure than when he came back, they would still be around, but with an encouraging hug from Virgil, Patton was off. Which just left Virgil and Logan standing beside his door. The logical side looked a bit bashful, before finally whispering.

“Help?” He asked, which of course, Virgil would oblige, though it made him wonder if the others needed assistance as well and just hadn’t been brave enough to ask. 

“Yeah, I can help.” Virgil said, leading Logan into his room and coaxing him to sit on the bed. First things first was getting Logan out of his tie, which Virgil had noticed he had been playing with a bit throughout the retelling of the day’s events. He loosened the article before lifting it over Logan’s head, then moved over to his dresser where he kept his comfy clothes. When he started to walk back over with a black t-shirt and sweats for Logan to change to, his smile turned to one of concern when he noticed Logan. Being friends for a while now, Virgil could tell when the other was lost in contemplative thought. He placed the clothes beside the little and gently tapped his shoulder. 

“You’re overthinking.” Virgil said, knowing it was the truth even without knowing what Logan was thinking about. Logan blinked up at the other, before looking away. 

“I’m not good with romance, I am worried that Nico won’t like, well, I guess my function.” What Logan wanted to say was me, but that wasn’t a realistic fear to have. It wasn’t like Thomas’s new crush would ever actually meet him, or any of the sides. The thoughts were threatening to age him up, and if this was something he had been experiencing alone, he probably would have let it happen, there had been plenty of times in Logan’s life where he had been regressed or near regression, but had to force himself back into his Big headspace. 

Virgil wasn’t sure how to respond. Because god knows he wasn’t all that good with romance either, and he didn’t exactly want to lie and say that everything would work out, Virgil had already been considering every scenario where it wouldn’t. But, he wanted to reassure his friend, and didn’t want Logan to get worked up and force himself out of headspace over this. 

“If this guy doesn’t like your function, then he’s missing out on one of the things that makes Thomas special, kid. And that wouldn’t be someone I want in his life anyways.” Was what he managed to say, and he knew that was the truth. If Nico didn’t like all the parts of Thomas, then Nico wasn’t the one. It was as simple as that, at least in Virgil’s mind. And it seemed to be the case for Logan as well, who smiled softly, before picking up the outfit Virgil had given him and headed towards the bathroom. 

“Thanks Vee..” Logan whispered, before hurrying into the bathroom and shutting the door. Virgil couldn’t help the feeling of pride that swelled him in, glad he had managed to help the other. Though he was quickly pulled from his thoughts when he heard footsteps come into the door. 

Roman was standing in the doorway in a white long sleeved shirt and red pajama pants. He was carrying his stuffed lion behind his back, still feeling just a bit embarrassed by it. When he saw Virgil, he smiled just a little. 

“You don’t have anything more than that?” Virgil asked, not meaning anything rude by the question, but simply curious, though was immediately mentally beating himself when he saw Roman's smile fall a bit. It was quickly hidden by a shrug though as he walked further in the room. 

"Just don't really need a lot…" He explained as he sat down next to Virgil, letting the lion sit on his lap. He played with the soft fur of the mane. "I'm the biggest, so I gotta make sure I get them what they need." He confessed, thinking about how he was the one who made the fort and the snacks and was almost always the one to initiate club meetings. Virgil nodded, seeming to understand. He gently patted Roman's back. 

"You don't have to take care of them right now though, okay?" He explained with a soft smile. "That's why I'm here, Prince. If you want to bring something, even if it's silly, I want you to have it, okay?" Virgil wasn't sure he'd ever used such a tender voice with Roman, and the way it made the boy teary eyed but smiling, he decided then and there he would have to use it more. The creative side stood up from the bed. 

"Promise you won't tease?" He asked, rubbing his eye just a bit to brush away the tears, though his smile was still in his face. Virgil nodded and offered out his pinky.

"Pinky swear," He said as they locked pinkies. Satisfied with the response, Roman rushed off towards his room to grab what he had wanted to bring, just as Patton was walking in. Virgil had to prevent himself from playfully rolling his eyes when he noticed the moral side. 

He was wearing his cat onsie, which didn't seem all that appropriate since they were just going to be taking a nap, but hey, whatever made him comfortable. He was also carrying two stuffed animals, his Froggy and a sweet looking stuffed giraffe, and his music box. When Patton met Virgil's eyes, they grew wider with excitement as he hurried over to sit next to him. 

Virgil was quick to take the music box from Patton's hands and place it on the bedside table. Patton let his legs swing in the air a bit as he happily cuddled into Virgil's side. 

"I'm really really happy you're part of this." He confessed, hiding his face in the other's hoodie so he couldn't see his flushing face. "Wanted to tell you for a long time." 

Virgil simply smiled and wrapped his arms around Patton, gently placing a kiss in his hair that earned him a quiet squeak of approval. When Logan came out of the bathroom dressed in his comfy clothes, he smiled at the two, before pointing at Patton's giraffe. 

"You brought Delilah?" Logan asked, tilting his head curiously. Delilah was Patton's second favorite plushie, though she was rarely ever used considering how much Patton adored his Froggy. The moral side nodded as Logan moved towards his closet to get his own stuffie and blanket. 

"Brought it for Vee!" He explained, offering the toy to Virgal. Said side chuckled a bit, though couldn't stop the confusion from forming on his face. 

"Why? I've already got three gremlins to cuddle with." He teased, lightly tickling Patton's stomach, earning him some giggles.

"Just in case you end up feeling little too!" He reasoned through his laughs, though the sentence made Virgil stop his movements. Patton took a second to get his giggles under control before noticing the worried look in Virgil's face. 

"S-sorry, I didn't mean--" 

"No no, it's okay Kid." Virgil said, quick to sooth his worries. He let his face form a smile. "I don't regress, but I really appreciate the sentiment." He said, before ruffling Patton's hair. Patton continued to frown though, feeling as if he had managed to strike a sore subject with his friend, but he didn't have long to think about it as Roman came barreling into the room. 

When everyone looked up, they could that Roman was cuddling close his lion, and he sucking on a ornate red and yellow pacifier. He blushed a bit when everyone looked at him, but didn't let himself thinking about it too long as he ran toward the bed, jumping in it, throwing Patton and Virgil up into the air a bit, eliciting laughter from both of them. 

"You have a Paci?" Logan asked, his eyes wide and curious. He'd never seen Roman with it before. The creative side nodded. 

"Made it!" He exclaimed around the pacifier, before burying himself into the bed, deciding that he was gonna be in the middle this time. Everyone seemed to follow his lead. Logan crawled in next to Roman, wrapping his blanket around his shoulders and placing his thumb in his mouth. He laid his head down on Roman's shoulder. 

Virgil crawled in next to Roman, scooting close enough that Patton could lay in the other side. But the heart had different plans. Once he saw that Virgil was settled, Patton squealed and laid himself directly on top of Virgil, rubbing his face into the soft fabric of his shirt above his chest. Virgil grunted a bit at the weight, but relaxed and laughed once Patton was still, running his hands over his friend's back lightly. 

Once they were all laying down, snuggled safely together, Virgil began to retell, again, the story of the day's events, unable to help the warmth that spread throughout his chest and seemed to spill into the whole room. It wasn't long before all the littles were sound asleep, leaving him to watch over them. He sighed, a soft smile falling on his lips. He looked at the giraffe that had ended up sitting next to him throughout the story. He reached for it and buried his face into it, letting himself feel just a bit comforted by it's plush softness. When he pulled away, he let out a quiet yawn and closed his eyes, happy that he had finally been allowed to be a part of this.


	3. UPDATE

THE STORY CONTINUES.

I have written an antithesis to this piece of work showing what the dark sides were doing during this time, as well as I plan to continue the plot set up in the second chapter. You can find that under the work "Patton's First Encounter with Little Virgil" https://archiveofourown.org/works/28965582/chapters/71080023

I hope that you enjoy <3


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